The Anatomy of an Email

Baltimore, Maryland

Blue Sky FactoryDriving Email Marketing Performance

The Anatomy of an Email

September 24, 20091:00 to 1:45 PM ET

DJ WaldowDirector of Community, Blue Sky Factory

Copyright 2009 Blue Sky Factory

About Blue Sky Factory

Blue Sky Factory is both a full & self service ESP.

Design, execute, and track your email marketing campaigns

with Publicaster ( that’s the name of our application)


About Blue Sky Factory (bonus)

We’re also a fun company with cool people

Fruitcakes

Talent


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBntR_5JIoo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIv7ZI2zIQU

About DJ Waldow

DJ Waldow

@djwaldow

• Married, no children (yet)

• Salt Lake City, UT

• Dog, 3 cats

• U of Michigan, NY Giants

• Beer, coffee, people

• Former middle school teacher

• Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory


30 Minutes of Anatomy, 15 Minutes of Q&A

• A thorough understanding of the various parts of an email

• Examples of "good" and "bad" email designs

• Tips and advice on where to spend time when planning email campaigns

• Suggestions to increase opens, clicks, and conversion

What I’m hoping you’ll leave with today:


6 Parts of the Human Body

1. Head (Hair)

2. Face (Eyes, Nose, Mouth)

3. Neck & Upper Body

4. Abdomen (Guts)

5. Legs

6. Feet & Toes

6 Parts of an Email

1. Preheader

2. From Name/Subject Line

3. Header, Navigation, Hook

4. Main Call-to-Action

5. “Other Stuff”

6. Footer


Image Credit: http://images.mirror.co.uk

Human Body Email

Face (Eyes, Nose, Mouth) From Name/Subject Line


The Bad – From Name

1. David Axelrod: Who is David? (also too long)

2. concierge: Am I at a hotel?

3. register.welcome: Lazy. Lazy. Lazy.

4. data: Oops (see #3)

5. tim.westergen: I don’t know who that is. Do you?


The Good – From Name

Perfect. Why? Simple. Company name.


From Name Takeaway

The From Nameis a representation of

your company and/or brand.

Keep it simple. Be proud of it! (Test)


The Bad – Subject Line

1. Don’t miss this: Spammy!2. A Message from…: I still don’t know who Tim Westergren is.3. Your upcoming…: Use the data you have.4. Your receipt…: See #1 and #3.5. TwitBacks Newsletter: Boooooring.6. EasyUpdate…: I have no idea what that is? Brand?7. djwaldow…: Be careful with first name personalization.


The Good – Subject Line

1. WEEKEND CLOSEOUTS…: It works. Trust me (they test)2. 9 hours only!...: Sense of urgency.3. Save up to 87%: Random number is catchy.4. Miles or discount…: Intriguing. I have a choice?5. 3 Minutes, 52 Seconds: Interest piqued (think: video)6. REI Subscriber Exclusive…: Exclusivity.


Subject Line Takeaways

1. Length

2. Exclusivity

3. Call-to-Action

4. Sense of Urgency

5. Dare to be Different

6. (Test)


Image Credit: DJ Waldow (really)

Human Body Email

Head (Hair) Preheader


Preheader Options

• Snippet Text

• Whitelisting/Address Book Instructions

• View Images

• Call-to-Action

• Mobile Device

• F2F and/or SWYSN

• Advertising


The Bad

Too much preheaderNo preheader


The Good

• (2) Calls-to-action• Mobile/Text• View with Images• Fun icons• Bonus: “secondary preheader” above navigation bar


Preheader Takeaways

• Include it, but don’t over do it

• Size matters

• Be different

• Include call(s)-to-action

• Whitelisting option overrated?

• (Test)


More Preheader Information

Reportlet: Many Retailers Not Optimizing Preheader Text

Download the study


http://www.retailemailblog.com/2009/09/reportlet-many-retailers-not-optimizing.html

http://www.smith-harmon.com/resources/2009/09/many_retailers_not_optimizing_preheader_text.php

Human Body Email

Neck & Upper Body Header, Navigation, Hook


The Bad


The Bad

• Header: Weak• Navigation: None.• Hook: Appears to be “Hello DJ.”


The Good

Fabric.com email – Images Off


The Good

Fabric.com email – Images On

• Bulletproof buttons

• Clearance in red

• Clear header

• Hooks everywhere


Header, Navigation, Hook Takeaways

1. Make it Pop (credit: Lisa Harmon)

2. Bulletproof Buttons (credit: Lisa Harmon)

3. Whitespace, but not too much

4. Clear hooks

5. Play with the colors

6. (Test)


http://www.smith-harmon.com/blog/

Image Credit: http://pix.motivatedphotos.com

Human Body Email

Abdomen (Guts) Main Call-to-Action


The Bad


The Good


The Good (and Main Call-to-Action Takeaways)

1. Consistency: Subject, Preheader, Image, Call-to-Action

2. Bulletproof Button (credit: Lisa Harmon)

3. Image/Text Balance

4. Colors

5. Animated gif

6. Many options to click

7. Clean


Image Credit: Flickr - derpunk

Human Body Email

Legs “Other Stuff”


The Bad


The Good

Image Credit: RetailEmailBlog


“Other Stuff” Takeaways

1. Bulletproof Button (credit: Lisa Harmon)

2. Image/Text Balance

3. Colors

4. White space

5. Many options to click

6. Clean

Note: Very similar to “Main Call-to-Action” Takeaways


Image Credit: Flickr (vernhart)

Human Body Email

Feet & Toes Footer


The Bad


The Good


Footer Takeaways

• Unsubscribe

• Manage Preferences / Update Account

• SWYN / F2F / Other Social

• Tertiary Calls-to-Action

• Don’t Make Them Work For It

• Simple, Straightforward


“…delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who actually want to get them.” S. Godin (1999)

Send Timely, Targeted, Relevant Emails To Subscribers Who

Have Asked For Them

If You’ve Learned Nothing Else Today, Know This “Secret”


Flickr Photo: a2gemma


@djwaldow

http://djwaldow.com/http://lmgtfy.com/?q=DJ Waldow

@blueskyfactory

http://blog.blueskyfactory.com/http://www.blueskyfactory.com/ http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Blue Sky Factory

Let’s Talk


http://djwaldow.com/

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=DJ%20Waldow

http://blog.blueskyfactory.com/

http://www.blueskyfactory.com/%20

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Blue%20Sky%20Factory

The Anatomy of an Email

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Transcript of The Anatomy of an Email